A walk in winter
by kairi-7717
Summary: Kairi is a princess who is devoid of all emotion. Will the curse stay with her forever or will someone be able to melt the stone cold heart she now bears.
1. A Stone Cold Heart

On a balcony over looking the forest near the castle, Kairi, Princess of Radiant Garden, gazed at the bright morning sky. It was a morning like every morning. The birds sang their morning songs, a cool breeze rustled the trees, a baby fawn eating grass in the clearing with its mother. Any normal person would enjoy a scenery like this.

"My Lady. Your father is waiting for you to join him for breakfast."

A young man emerged from the shadows. His hair was brown and spiky. From one look you would think it was bed head but, did he actually try to spiky it which way and that? Everyone in the court eyed him as he walked the halls. Not even 18 and yet he was there to protect the princess. His bright blue eyes payed heavily on the princess.

Kairi glanced toward the man and heaved a sigh. "Yes, thank you Sora. I guess it is time for breakfast."

The princess stared off looking at her kingdom from her window for a few more moments.

"My lady." Urged Sora.

"Alright, I'm coming." She turned and walked right passed Sora without bashing an eyelash. "Well, are you coming?" She gave him a cold tone.

He brushed it off like it was nothing. "Yes, your lady ship."

They walked in silence down the hall. Every morning he would watch her stare out the window. Every morning he wondered what was going through her mind. She hardly said a word and if she did, there was always a cold tone to her voice. A kind of hollowness to it. He thought back to the first day he met her 3 months ago. Her father the king, sent out a message to all the clans of the kingdom for their best fighters. They held a contest to see who the was the strongest. Sora entered just because he loved challenges and fighting. He never would have drempt that the victor would end up being the princesses personal body guard.

When he saw the princess for the first time she had no expression, no life in her eyes. He thought he would have some fun but, with a princess who never says a word, well, Sora wished he would have lost. Never the less it was an honor to serve the king Sora told himself.

"Sora?" The princess said without any emotion.

This brought Sora back. They were at the dining hall and the princess was waiting for him to open the door. Sora apologized bowing opening it for. Without any thanks she walked in ignoring him.

'Just like always' he sighed and took his place standing behind her.

"My lovely daughter! Your looking well this morning." The king beamed. "Sora my boy. Sit! Join us for breakfast."

"Thank your for your generosity your majesty but, I already had my share this morning."

The king eyed him with a smirk. "You are free to eat with us anytime young man. Your protecting my daughter after all. You deserve a good meal."

"I'll keep that in mind. Your too kind my King."

The king eyed Sora looking him up and down. "I have an idea. Sora, my dear daughter hardly goes outside the castle doors. Now that she has someone close to protect her, I want her to see the outside world. What do you think my dear?"

The princess buttered her bread emotionless. "No thank you."

"My dear, you have been stuck here far too long. You must go see how your country is. Enjoy the sights."

Princess Kairi didn't look up at her father "I already said no."

This finally set the king off. "Kairi, you are to go out and have a look around! That's an order as the King!"

The princess put down the knife. "Alright. I'll do as you say." She then got up from the table and walked out of the room.

The king looked apologetic at Sora. "I'm sorry that my daughter isn't all that pleasant to be around but, thank you for looking after her."

Sora bowed "Your words are too kind your majesty. It's an honor to serve you and the princess." He then turned and left the room.

The king sat there alone and heaved a heavy sigh. "We're all counting on you my boy. It's up to you now."


	2. Just another cold morning

After Sora left the presence of the King, he chased after the princess. She was just entering the garden when he finally caught up to her. He kept himself a few paces back giving her space. She hardly said a word, which made feel awkward, not to mention all she does is stare at things. The fact that she never showed any sort of emotion kinda creeped him out. She was like a mindless puppet just walking around.

He watched her as she walked along the rose bushes. She held up her hand to touch a rose. Her finger gently floated over the petals. After a few moments she moved her hand toward the stem, wrapped her hand around, and squeezed. Bright scarlet red slowly started to drip from her hand.

Sora stood there for a moment taking in the unusual sight. He quickly snapped from it and rushed toward the princess. He grabbed her hand and pulled it away from the rose. A few thorns were still stuck in her palm and fingers.

"What the crap do you think your doing?! Maids!" He then looked at her face and was taken back by what he saw. She was looking at her hand like nothing had happened. She then started to push the thorns in deeper without a flinch. For sure he thought she would squint from the pain but, all she did was stare.

"YOUR HIGHNESS!!"

The head maid Aqua came rushing over. She was older but had a kind face. She was the one who raised the princess after her mother, the late Queen Ulma passed away.

"Please don't tell me your doing this again! You know this worries everyone around you!"

"It was a momentary slip. My father made me think again."

Aqua wrapped her hand and started to lead the princess inside.

"Sora, I'm sorry you finally had to see this. Every so often she does...certain things."

Sora just nodded. He was warned about the princess's odd behavior but, he never thought it was anything like this. She truly had no emotion. She felt no pain. She truly was the princess with a stone cold heart.


	3. Chapter 3: Realization

Sora paced outside the Princess Kairi's room waiting for Aqua to let him in. Confused about the sight he saw he leaned up against the wall, crossed his arms and pondered the sight.

'She truly is a princess without emotions' He thought to himself. He look at his hand, softly brushing his finger tips together. Remembering the sight of the blood and the expressionless face. You would think even a small twinge of pain would appear but, there was nothing. She truly felt nothing. He tilted his head back and stared at the ceiling. He let a deep sigh escape his lips. "Seriously. How did I get myself into this situation?"

"Well for starters, you entered the competition without knowing the prize."

Sora quickly opened his eyes and fumbled to stand in a knightly fashion. He was at the palace and should hold himself at their level. He saw Aqua giving him a warm smile.

"You can relax. You don't need to be all formal with me. I'm just the head maid. You Sora, rank higher then myself."

Sora kinda chuckled off his slight embarrassment. "I'm still kinda getting used to the whole palace life."

Aqua shook her head "Trust me. I know the feeling. You'll get used to it soon enough." Her smile faded and she became serious. "Sora. I think it's time I have a talk with you about our princess. Come, I'll make you a cup of tea while we talk. She's resting now. You may go visit her after our chat."

Sora nodded and followed Aqua to the maids kitchen. When they got there she ushered Sora to sit. Of course Sora felt uncomfortable doing this. This was his first time in the maids kitchen and he also felt like Aqua was going to tell him something deep about the princess.

"I take it the king has told you a little about our princess, has he not?" Sora nodded in agreement. "Though I'm sure he only told you the surface about our dear princess but, I can see you will be with the princess for a very long time so it's about time you knew the whole truth." She paused sighing "especially after this morning." Aqua then began to tell Sora the true story about the princess.

"It was 4 years after Kairi was born. Queen Ulma was a wonderful mother. She loved Kairi so much. Usually a queen would have a midwife to raise the child, but Queen Ulma wouldn't have it. She wanted to raise Kairi herself. I still remember the days when Kairi would smile at her mother. She had the warmest and brightest smile you had ever seen. It was like the morning sun. Soft and warm."

"So the princess wasn't always like this then." Sora inquired.

Aqua smiled thinking about the warm memories. "It was the complete opposite. She had so much spunk as a toddler. Not to mention how stubborn she was." Aqua chuckled "She had spirit that girl."

"So what finally happened to her if she had that much life in her?" Sora became ingrossed with the story.

"It happened in winter when Kairi was 4. They were traveling to visit Queen Ulma's parents in the northern kingdom during the winter. They had heard that Queen Ulma's mother was about to pass so of course being the loving husband he was, he let her go with Kairi. Along the way a group of bandits tried robbing the carriage along the lower mountain pass. Thankfully our guards were able to stop them without any problem but, there was trap we never knew of.


	4. Chapter 4: An evil lurks

"Your Highness!" A knight rode up to the snow covered carriage. "Your Highness, we have disposed of the bandits that attacked. Are you and princess Kairi alright?"

Queen Ulma opened the curtain window. Her scarlet red hair blew from the cool air flowing into the carriage. "Yes Talin, thank you. We're both safe, though, Kairi is shooken up by the ordeal."

Talin could see little Kairi clinging onto her mother. Queen Ulma was softly stroking the top of her daughters hair. Tears streamed down the little girl cheeks. Talin gave a soft smile "Now don't you fret princess Kairi. My men and I took care of all the scary men." He then knocked on the carriage. "Are you excited to see her grandmother?"

Kairi sniffled. "Y-yes. Mother said I could help make her some porridge when we get there." A small quiet voice came out. She was still frightened by what had occurred just moments ago.

The Queen smiled softly at her daughter tilting her chin gently to look at her mother. "We can also make some fresh cinnamon cookies if you'd like." She said as she wiped her tear streaked cheeks.

Kairi instantly brightened up "Cookies?! Can we make some for grandpa too?"

The Queen chuckled "Of course honey. I'm sure he would love that."

As the cute scene before Talin has happening one of his men rode up beside him. "I'm sorry to interrupt Sir but, I think you should come see this."

Talin nodded to his soldier "Excuse me your Highness. I must get back to my duties. After we scout a bit more we shall continue onward."

The Queen gave her approval. "Of course Talin. I leave things in your hands. Well both be fine here."

Talin nodded and rode along with his soldier. He led them up to a tree that had fresh but, unusual carving. "We found this Sir. It seems to be a symbol relating to the ancient ice legends we all heard as kids."

Talin hopped off his horse and walked up to the tree. He put his hand up tracing the carving. It was in the shape of a bird with a flowing long tail. This was definitely from the story of the ice witch that was told when he was a kid. They use this bird symbol as the cover for the story book but, why was it here. "Men we need to keep our eyes open. I fear this attack was just the beginning."

Talin hopped back on his horse when he heard a scream. Talin spun around to see that one of his men was frozen solid. "Cero!" He rode toward his now frozen friend. "MEN! EYES PEELED! WERE NOT ALONE!"

"Over there!"

Talin turned toward his right and couldn't believe his eyes. There in the trees was a large ice blue bird. It's feathers gleamed in the sunlight just like ice itself would. It's tail feathers were long and majestic. They too gleamed in the sun. The head was was like a peacock. With feathers pluming from the top of its head. The bird sat on the branch proud and unmoving. Talin motioned with his hand "Men. Guards! Protect the Queen!" Talin knew this was no ordinary bird.

As the men started to moved, so did the bird. It stretched out it's large wings and took off into the sky. The bird then flew straight down toward the men opening its beak and then without warning two of the men froze. Their skin turned pale and frosted over. Talin eyes his surroundings. Only 8 men left. "Protect yourselves with your shield!" Talin have the orders but two more men froze before they could raise them.

 _This is not good. Not good at all._ Talin needed to think of something quick. "Archers! When you can get a ear shot take it!"

Three men pulled out their bows while another soldier was frozen.

The Queen heard the soldiers yelling and slowing peaked through the curtain. She couldn't see what was happening until one of the soldiers was frozen. The bird had flown in close and the sun reflecting off its wings drew the attention of the Queen. She was thankful that Kairi had fallen asleep in her lap. She didn't need to be scared anymore then what she was. The Queen closed the curtain and leaned back in her seat. A worried look crossed her face as she stroked her daughters hair. "Don't worry my child. I will always protect you." She leaned down and kissed her head. She heard more yelling and soon it was quiet. She knew nothing of the men were alive. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and then let it out slowly. She moved Kairi on the seat, grabbed the spare sword that was kept under the seat, and stood. She slowly opened the carriage door and stepped out. To her amazement, she saw the frozen like soldiers who were now frozen statues. She spotted Talin lying on his back , his head facing her. "Talin." She whispered. She saw a faint fog come from his mouth but his skin was pale white. She touched his face and it felt ice cold.

She stood up knowing all to well what had happened. She eyed the trees for any sign of the bird. Just then a sorrowful tune filled the air. She followed the sound to see the bird singing it's melody high in the trees. Ulma closed her eyes and listened. There was a familiarity to the song. One that she heard since she was a little girl. She knew what this song was and what it had in store for her. A voice the rang out singing along to the melody. Ulma opened her eyes as the voice filled the sky.

 _A night in winter, is as cold as ice._

 _A dark night sky, with no moon in sight._

 _A land shimmering a white night glow,_

 _but the heart is as black as coal._

 _A stone cold heart, you will now see._

 _A stone cold heart, a curse from me._

 _A stone cold heart, destruction will come._

 _A heart that is cursed, forever you shall be._

Ulma stood guard, sword at her side. She knew very well that this wasn't going to end well. All she knew was that she had to protect her daughter at all cost. Ulma brought the sword ready for what may come and called out to the voice. "Who are you and what do you want?"

All she could hear was a malice laughter. The bird started to flap its wing and took off for another tree branch wear someone in a dark navy cloak with gold outlining stood. The hood was over their head but as soon as the bird landed on the persons arm they pulled down the hood relieving an older woman. She looked to be in her younger twenties but, she was very beautiful. Her hair was as dark as the night sky. Long and sleek, it flowed down to her waist as it blew in the wind. Her eyes were and amber shade of yellow but, they were beautiful. The mysterious woman smiled down at Ulma. "Why hello dear. It's so good to finally meet you."

Ulma backed up a few steps but, her courage was still strong. "And who might you be? I was enjoying a carriage ride but, unfortunately you disturbed ride. What did you want?"

The woman looked down at Ulma and sneered. "Why my dear Ulma, you and I are family! It hurts my feelings that who don't know who I am." she pretended to pout.

Ulma stood her ground, "I don't know who you are but, it would explain why you knew that song. If your truly part of my family, who did you learn it from?"

The mysterious woman jumped down from the tree landing perfectly on the ground. She wasn't fazed one bit by the jump. She brushed her hair behind her. "Well, for your information, I am your great grandmothers sister."

Ulma lifted the sword pointing it at her. "If your her sister, why do you look like your twenty?"

The woman just shook her head. "Magic my dear. Magic. After I found the book of the ancients, I decided to use their power as my own. Of course, my sister wouldn't have anything to do with it. She said it would only cause problems. She believed that this book would be the end of me." She the scoffed, "END OF ME?! Just LOOK at me. It's like I never even aged a day in my life." She placed her hands on her cheeks and smiled. "I can stay like this forever. Young and beautiful."

Ulma lowered her sword a bit. Sure she was trained with a sword but holding it out for a long period of time can wear anyone out. She had to save her strength. "Magic is never a good thing. It may seem fine now but, one day, it will turn on you and you will never be able to escape it."

She just roller her eyes "Please. First I get this from my sister and now you." She let out a sigh. "Anyway, I'm not here for a lovely family reunion. I'm here to fulfill a long lost tale And I choose you to be apart of it. So you better get ready."

Ulma could feel ever hair on her body stand. Something was coming and it wasn't good. The mysterious woman put a small whistle to her mouth and blew. The bird flew down to her and awaited her orders "You know what to do. Go grab that little brat and bring her to me." The bird then flew off to the carriage.

Ulma charged toward the carriage "Don't you dare lay a finger on her!"

The mysterious woman thought for a second. "Isolde, on second thought. Why dont you freeze the legs of Ulma here." The bird flew up and let out a loud screech. I swung around launching its ice flare from its beak, freezing Ulma in place.

"Let me out of this at once! Don'y you dare do anything to Kairi!" Ulma raged.

The woman walked up to Ulma and cupped her chin. "You and your family will feel the wrath of Lena."

Ulma jerked her head away. "So that's your name. Thinking back my grandmother warned me of an evil that might take place. Who would have thought it would be from my family."

Lena walk toward the carriage. "Isolde, grab the girl and bring her to me." The bird flew in and grabbed the little girl. You could hear Kairi scream from fright of being carried away by the bird. Isolde dropped Kairi right in front of Lena. Kairi looked up crying at the strange woman.

Ulma tried to move the bottom hald of her body but it wasn't any good. She was stuck. "Kairi!"

Kairi swung her heard around "MOMMY!" Kairi tried to stand up to run to her mother but Isolde landed in front of her blocking Kairi from her mother. Kairi began to cry backing away from the scary bird before her but, she only bumped into Lena. Kairi tried to run away but Isolde kept getting in her way. Kairi then slumped to the cold, wet, snowy ground covering her head. She could hear her mother calling her name, telling her that it was going to be ok. To be brave.

"Oh sweet Kairi. Is this bird scaring you?" Lena then leaned down placing a hand on Kairi. "My dear. I can make that all go away. I can take away that scariness for you. I can make all that pain disappear."

Ulma began to growl. "What do you plan on doing to her, you witch."

Lena looked to Ulma "Just a little spell I found in my little book. Iv'e been meaning to try it out and your daughter is the perfect thing I need for it. Now watch Ulma. Watch as your world starts to crumble." Kairi was crying loudly in the background while Ulma was screaming for her daughter. Lena tuned them both out. Her plan was starting to set in motion.

 _Heart so fragile and soft. Head my words and discard your worries, your fears, your emotions._

 _Become as hard as stone. Become a heart unmoving. Become a heart as cold as ice!_

A swirling of snow built up from underneath Kairi. Like a swirling snow tornado engulfed her and then a bright light shown in the midst. Isolde then opened his beak and shot his flare into the swirling tornado. Ulma screaming in the background, while Lena was laughing away. The snow then disappeared, leaving Kairi laying in the snow unconscious. Lena slowed her laughter and looked and the sleeping girl. She patted her head. "Don't worry Ulma. Your daughter is fine. She's just emotionless now. Nothing in this world can break her of this spell. Also if she even tried to break the spell her heart will turn her to ice." Lena stood up and walked over toward Ulma. "Your time as Queen is over."

"Ulma was about to yell something but, Isolde froze her in place. Lena cackled in amusement. "Perfect timing as always Isolde." The bird flew up and landed on her arm. "Let us go. In time we shall meet sweet little Kairi again and when that time comes, the kingdom will have slowly started to freeze due to out lovely princess here. Everyone will have died because of her." Lena bean laughing again as snow blew up from the wind and Lena disappeard in the blowing snow, leaving everyone there, frozen.


	5. Chapter 5: The Princess of Ice

The sunshine faded from the window. It was almost time to prepare for things for lunch. Aqua looked out the window. "Talin thawed not long after. Apparently Lena let him see everything to 'report' to us all that had happened. Unfortunately he was the only one that thawed. He tried to bring Queen Lena back with him but." Aqua got quiet and a tear rolled down her cheek. "Lena used her magic and Queen Ulma fell to pieces. Talin brought the princess back with him but, she was in the state that she is in now. Only a few of the Kings closest personnel knows the details. Other people just thinks she's an odd duck."

Sora stared at his tea. "Why do you suppose the King never told me?" He spoke softly.

Aqua paused what she was doing. She looked down at the cup in her hand thinking. "I would like to think that he didn't want to burden you right away. To get to know the princess before you knew of this wild tale. Besides, would you have believed it if you knew the truth right away?"

Sora shook his head. "Not in a million years. Sure the princess is odd and hard to be around. Not to mention she has no personality at all." Sora stopped himself. "Sorry."

Aqua gave Sora a reassuring look "It's quite alright if you say that to me. Trust me I know what she is like but, you better not say that anywhere else."

Sora gave a nervous smile. " Right, you never know what may happen if you make fun of royalty."

Aqua chuckled slightly. "I really hope you get along with the princess. I think you will be a good match for her."

Sora tilted his head in confusion "Whatever you say but, I don't know how much help I'll be in this type of situation. Oh by the way, does the princess know what happened to her?"

Aqua let out a deep breath. "We have always contemplated about telling her or not. If we did tell her, it's not like it will affect her at all. As you could see today, she can't comprehend what is happening to her." Aqua looked down at the table laying a hand on it. "She's like an empty shell" she said quietly.

Sora stood from his chair and bowed. "Thank you for telling me this story. I feel like I can understand her a bit more now."

Aqua nodded "Thank you for taking the time to listen. Why don't you go check on her. I'm sure she is awake staring out her window."

Sora bowed once more. "I shall take my leave then." Sora was in deep thought as he traveled back to the princess's room. If he had not of witnessed what he did this morning, he probably would have never believed it. The story sounded familiar to him. There was a story his mother used to tell him as a boy right before bed. A curse fell upon a wonderful girl. She was the delight of her family who everyone loved, but unfortunately there was one person who was jealous of her. The older sister saw that her younger sister was getting the love and affection from her parents and only the older sister got scolded. A bitterness grew in her heart and she cast a spell over her. The young girl became like a lifeless doll, an empty shell. In time everyone grew cold to each other and started to fight each other until, everyone and everything turned to ice. Sora always thought the story was sad. There was no happy ending, so why would there be a story like this? He looked up and noticed he was in front of the princess's door. He took a deep breath and knocked.

Kairi sat on the window ledge, gazing over the kingdom. In the distance you could hear the mid day life happening in the market. A few birds landed on the roof nearby, lightly chirping at each other, and bouncing around. Kairi watched them for a few minutes when a hawk came swooping in. The birds scattered away flying away from the hawk. They swooped right and left, up and down. A few bids then charged after the hawk and then the whole flock joined in. The hawk then gave up its lunch and flew away. All seemed good for the birds except for one. One had fallen by Kairi's window sill. She tilted her head watching the bird struggle. After a few moments the bird fell on its body breathing deeply. She scooped up the bird into her hands staring at the pitiful creature.

Blankly she spoke. "What must you be feeling right now? Pain? Fear? I know nothing of those feelings. Even this morning, i tried to inflict pain upon myself." She held her bandages hand up in front of her. "What does it feel like? What kind of emotion would I show?" The bird then breathed its last breath, it became motionless.

Kairi then heard a knock on her door. She expected it to be Aqua checking in on her like normal. She let herself stay silent. Usually Aqua would come in after a few moments but, all she heard was more knocking.

"Excuse me princess?" A muffled voice came from behind the door. "I was sent by Aqua to check up on you."

Kairi sat there in silence. So it was the boy Sora who was outside her door. This was a change.

"Princess, are you up? May I come in?" Sora opened the door about an inch hoping he wasn't going to get in trouble for opening a princess's door without permission.

"Seeing how you already have the door open, you may enter." Kairi coldly stared back out the window.

Sora sheepishly walked in. "Pardon the intrusion but, how are you feeling?" Sora then mentally slapped his forehead.

Kairi turned her head to face the young man. "I feel nothing. As you know, I feel no emotions. No pain. So your question is useless."

Sora bowed "I am sorry your Highness. Please forgive my lack of sensitivity to the situation."

"As you see, in your terms I am fine. You may leave now."

Sora stood up thankful that his stupidity didn't get him into trouble. Though one thing was puzzling him. "If I may Princess. If everything is fine then, why are you holding a dead bird in her hand?"

Kairi looked down at the lifeless bird. "It was attacked by a hawk and fell here. It died moments later."

"That still doesn't explain why you are holding it in your hand." Sora was a tad creeped out by the scene.

Kairi let the bird fall on the window sill. "What is there to tell. I was merely watching it as it died."

Sora took a step back. "Right." Clearly this girl was more of a wack job then he initially thought. Even after learning about the curse that was set upon her life. "Well, since you seem to be doing great then i guess I'll see you around." Sora turned to leave but, was stopped from Kairi speaking out.

"Sora was it? I do believe my Father ordered you to take me around the market." Kairi pointed out. "So please accompany me after we have lunch."

Sora shut his eyes, his back still toward the princess. "Oh. That's right. Of course, your Highness." That was the last thing Sora wanted to do at the moment. He then turned around to face her. "Is there anything else you might need?"

Kairi turned her head back toward the window. "No. You may leave now."

Sora bowed one last time and left the room. As soon as he shut the door, he leaned back against it and tilted his head back resting it on the door. "Great. Just how I wanted to spend the afternoon. Hanging out, IN TOWN, with the lifeless princess. I just hope I don't see any of my friends later." He let out a sigh and then headed outside.


End file.
